The Romeo Club

With a grin, I scanned over Kevin’s lists of wants. Learn how to talk to girls. Maybe get a date. Better my wardrobe. Learn to dance. Okay, his weren’t too bad. The biggest thing for him, would be getting over his shyness. Next, I pulled out C.C.’s. Get to second base. Get Liza McGregor to go to prom with me. Talk to girls. See if any girls want to dress up as Princess Leia. Learn to kiss. Get the male lead for final drama club show. Make girls fall for me. Geez. No way in hell was I teaching him how to kiss anyone. And, well, the second base thing was a no go too. At last, I got to Trey’s. Learn how to talk to girls. Learn how to ask someone out. Get Portia Rickard to go on at least one date with me. Get a new look. Make something of my senior year.

My chest tightened. Okay, so Trey’s surprised me the most. He’d never mentioned Portia before. Not that I wouldn’t help him out, but she didn’t seem like his type. He was into video games, music, environmental issues. And she was pretty. She did beauty pageants and got crowned Miss Teen Michigan or something. But she was kind of flighty and barely got average grades.

And why should I care who he wants to date?

With another sigh, I set down the lists and grabbed my notebook from my desk. I needed to write down what the boys needed to do from my perspective. And first thing on the list was C.C.’s wild afro. It had to go. Definitely needed to plan a trip to the mall for clothes. I chewed the end of my pen. They would have to attend some ‘Delyla classes on conversing with the opposite sex.’

My light blue curtains billowed as a gust of wind blew through the screen, carrying with it the scent of Lilac. Just then, I heard: woof-woof-woof. Followed by loud howls.

Jimbo was on the loose again. Irritated, I slammed my notebook shut and marched over to my window, just in time to see him grabbing something from our clothesline.

I shielded my eyes. “No. Drop that.” Son of a … he had my new thong. With my fists clenched, I raced down the hall, taking the stairs two at a time. Soon, I burst outside.

“Drop that. Now,” I shouted.

My bare feet sank into the thick grass as I ran into the backyard.

“What’s going on?” Trey said, setting a bag of trash into his garbage bin.

“He’s got my—some of my clothes.”

Jimbo got down on his haunches and shook his head back and forth like a rabid beast.

Trey moved in behind him. “Okay, I’ll come from the back and try to grab him, while you come in from the front.”

“Okay.”

“On the count of three,” he said. “One. Two … ”

The dog leapt up and raced to the side, causing me and Trey to ram into each other.

My head clunked into his. “Damn it.”

“That mutt is way too smart for his own good.” He rubbed his forehead and reached down to help me up. His warm fingers closed around mine.

“I think we need a better plan.” I eyed the monster dog, who laid down next to the large maple in our backyard. He gave me a puppy grin, like he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Got a net?” he said.

“Right, because dog catcher is my after school job.”

Trey moved slowly toward Jimbo. “Hey, big guy. Come here so I can pet you.”

“He’s not gonna fall for that.” I rolled my eyes.

But the dog’s ears perked up. With my thong hanging out of his mouth, he loped over to Trey, who snatched my undergarments from him. He then reached out and scratched Jimbo behind the ears.

“Good boy,” he said.

“Good? He’s not good.”

“Don’t listen to her, boy.”

A second later, the dog lifted his leg and a stream of pee sprayed over Trey’s bare feet like a K-9 sprinkler system.

I burst out laughing. “Oh. My. God. That was epic. See—I told you.”

“Dang it, Jimbo.” Trey’s face scrunched up in disgust. He held his leg out to the side to try and shake it off.

The pooch gave another doggy grin then trotted back into his own yard.

“You want to use our hose to wash off?” Tears streamed down my face as I tried to compose myself.

“And this is what I get for helping you.” He wrinkled his nose as he hobbled over to our outdoor faucet.

“Sorry. But it was flipping funny.” As I followed after him, I stepped in something warm that squished between my toes. Please let that be mud. I stared in disgust at the pile of dog crap. “Gross. Gross. Gross.”

Trey slapped me on the back and started laughing. “Now that’s hilarious.”

“This is so sick. I swear, I’m gonna shovel up these piles and leave it on the neighbors doorstep.”

He turned on the faucet. “Here, I’ll let you rinse off first.”